Hairless Rat Crisus!

Question
I am in need of tips on hairless rats. I have been researching them because I a interested in getting Stella who is on petfinder in Santa Rosa,CA. I have two female furred rats and one who is the cuddliest rat ever! After I fell in love  with  Stella, I realized she needed a more cuddly cuddle buddy.:) It was also wandering how you would introduce them. I know of a few ways. One more thing is that I was wondering how long I have to keep her on corentine. Is it just until I take her to the vet and make sure she is ok? THANKYOU!

p.s. I am hoping you can give me some info to convince my mom to let me get Stella

Answer
Hi Kristy


3 weeks is the normal time for quarantine.  This will assure you that if there are any viruses she is harboring they have time to incubate and appear before the time is up so she doesnt pass it to the other rats.

If she is going to see the vet, he can run an ELISA panel (blood tests) to check for specific common viruses such as SDA or Sendai and you will know faster if she has a clean bill of health or not. Also, bring a stool sample too so the vet can check for parasites.

I am sure all is well, though but this is just to be safe!

As for putting them together, you can let them get used to each other by keeping their cages side by side after quarantine is up and slowly let them on the ground together in neutral territory. I also suggest cage switching for an hour or so.  Let the furred rat in the hairless rats cage and the hairless rat in the furred rats cage. They will get their scent all over everything and they will be aware of the fact that the other rat is nearby.  Again, do this only after quarantine is up.